brexit measures to control the movement of vaccines across the border in ireland after a backlash from leaders in london, dublin and belfast. but the bloc will force pharmaceutical companies to seek permission before supplying other countries with vaccines produced in europe. another vaccine�*s been shown to be effective against coronavirus. trials showjohnson &johnson�*s single—dose jab has an overall efficacy of 66 percent but the shot does not protect as well against a variant first detected in south africa. several thousand people have marched through cities across poland in a third night of protests against a near—total ban on abortion. riot police were again deployed in the capital warsaw where hundreds took to the streets despite coronavirus restrictions.

home schooling is now a fact of life for most pupils throughout the uk as lockdown continues, but there are concerns that many familes still don't have access to the internet, laptops or affordable broadband and are being greatly disadvantaged. fiona lamdin reports on the latest efforts being made to get children the technology they need. i can only read a book. we do not have any wi—fi. for angela and brian, this is what home—schooling looks like without a laptop or the internet. i cannot see my teacher because i cannot do zoom lessons and i cannot go to school. i need to do my homework for sure because if i do not do my homework then when i go back to school i am not going to know anything about it. internet is important. every day, no wi—fi is a stress for me. they have to wait until 9pm, until their dad gets home from work, to use his phone to catch up.

it's going to be really hard for those children when they come back to school. the head teacher is really worried. we have about ten families at school who do not have access to the internet, and that is a real problem for them. there are videos uploaded that explain the learning and if children cannot see those videos it is really difficult for them to participate. across the uk, one in 20 families have limited access to the internet and are without devices. but donated laptops and donated data are making a real difference. it is a life—changer and it is also a life—saver. this is the moment when alaweah and khadija, ten—year—old identical twins, were given a donated laptop. it made a big impact on our lives because you can get more education and you can get more work done. live lessons are amazing. sometimes we do fun stuff. today became the day

when home—schooling also changed for angela and brian. a local charity not only donated two laptops but a ag dongle. yes! with home—schooling set to last for many weeks, these children can now get online with their classmates. now it is going to be easier to do homework. i can download zoom on the laptop. fiona lamdin, bbc news. now on bbc news: from civil war to the pandemic, 2020 was a deadly year for the syrian province of idlib. our world follows two syrian doctors brought face—to—face with life and death. even before coronavirus, 2020 got off to a deadly start in the syrian province of idlib. but life continued for the

millions of syrians trapped in the territory. as doctors, mohammed and this woman worked on the frontline of the humanitarian crisis. as coronavirus sweeps across the devastated region, where a third of the population live in refugee camps, the couple have to make a choice. to care for their patients or protect their growing family. with their first child expected just as the outbreak reaches its peak, it is a choice that will force the family apart. and for longer than any of them expected.

mohammed and his family of four live in idlib, a province in the north—west corner of syria. it is the only territory still held by anti—government rebels and the start of 2020 saw some

of the bloodiest violence as president bashar al—assad tried to regain control. hospitals were bombed, hundreds of civilians killed, and a million people forced from their homes as doctors, both mohammed and his wife zaina were on the front lines of the crisis. a ceasefire is announced at the start of march, six days later, the world health organization declared coronavirus a global pandemic. mohammed is appointed head of the coronavirus response team and with zaina's

help, start preparing the refugee camps for a possible outbreak. with a third of idlib�*s population living in these cramped conditions with little access to clean water, mohammed fears the virus could spread quickly. surrounded by government forces and with little movement in and out of the territory, idlib

manages to avoid an early outbreak. but another test result has come back positive.

but coronavirus does eventually come to idlib in earlyjuly when zaina is six months pregnant and he first identified case is a doctor from the hospital where she works.

her test results come back negative but with the outbreak spreading among hospital staff, she is becoming anxious about the health of her baby. within weeks, mohammed's fears have come true stop the virus has spread to idlib�*s refugee camps where a million people live in close proximity. with few health facilities, mohammed is sent to assess any suspected

cases. officially, he has found 33 positive cases in the camps but mohammed knows that most of them are going undetected. and with the syrian currency in freefall following the introduction of new us sanctions injune, even those who want to take the virus seriously can barely afford to do so.

especially as the ceasefire between the syrian government, its russian allies, and turkish backed rebels is starting to fall apart. zaina and mohammed decide it is too dangerous for them to have their baby in idlib. but trapped within the besieged

territory, their only other option is to give birth in neighbouring turkey, a country that closed its border with syria in 2015. as a doctor, zaina is allowed in but the children cannot go with her. zaina makes a risky decision, to leave idlib with her children via an unofficial route. mohammed stays behind to work on the coronavirus response. it is october and the number of positive cases in

north—west syria has risen tenfold over the last month.

mohammed managed to reach zeina in turkey on the day she gave birth.

but now she is out of the hospital, mohammed has to return to interplay, leaving the family in turkey. —— idlib.

mohammed has been separated from the family for one week. during that time, dozens of people have been killed in a series of airstrikes, including my children. —— four children. he is on his way to one of idlib�*s dedicated coronavirus hospitals. it is working at full capacity, and patients are

being turned away. the hospitals are also running low on oxygen.

to make matters worse, nearly one and a half thousand doctors and nurses have tested positive for the virus. 30% of the medical workforce in idlib.

three weeks after giving birth, zeina is to get area. to look after mohammed. —— trying to

get back into syria to look after mohammed. but having entered turkey via an unofficial route, she has repeatedly turned away from the border.

but even with his symptoms, mohammed must continue to work. there are only 70 ventilators across the whole of idlib, and growing competition among the hospitals. .

after four attempts, zeina and the children finally make it across the border, but it's not the homecoming mohammed was hoping for.

after ten days in quarantine mohammed takes another covid test. it is negative. it is the first of december, and one month since mohammed held his youngest child, aleen.

hello. we're in for a cold weekend. there is some sunshine in the forecast but also more rain, sleet and snow. now, this time, the sleet and the snow should mostly fall across the hills. and at the moment, there's a battle between cold air coming in from the north and the milder air trying to spread in from the south. and this is also where we have a weather front, and that weather front will bring the rain, sleet and the snow on saturday. in fact, we've got a couple of weather fronts heading our way. this is just the first one which is moving across the uk as i speak. so, early in the morning, it's very mild in the south—west of the country, so certainly no snow here. the further north you go, the temperatures do dip away, so some sleet and snow across the welsh hills. and then north of that, early on saturday morning, with the clear skies

across the far north of england and scotland, there's a sharp frost. so, that sharp frost and clear skies in the morning across scotland and the far north of england. to the south of that, the cloudier weather, outbreaks of rain, sleet and snow. to the south coast, i think, here, it is going to be far too mild for any wintry weather. temperatures, for example, in plymouth will be around 10 degrees. but as the day wears on, some of that rain may turn to sleet and maybe some wet snow across other cities of the south away from the southern counties. now, through the night, saturday night into sunday, the skies will clear. so, with that wet day, it is going to turn icy early in the morning on sunday, as temperatures dip away to freezing or below across many parts of the uk, and another very cold night there in scotland. now, i mentioned two weather fronts, one on saturday. this is the next one paying us a visit on sunday. now, remember, it's a very chilly morning on sunday, the weather front is coming in, it's sub—zero here, at least for a time, so some of this weather will be snowy. sleet and snow certainly across the welsh hills, but there is a possibility of some wintry weather spreading to other parts of the country as well, not in the north and the north—east.

here, i think we're in for some sunshine. and it is going to be chilly wherever you are. but the chilly weather isn't going to last for very long, particularly in the south. i think by the time we get to monday, tuesday and wednesday, for example, in the south, temperatures will be back into double figures. bye— bye.

this is bbc news: i'm lewis vaughanjones, with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. the eu backs down from using emergency brexit measures to restrict the movement of vaccines to northern ireland — their plan sparked outrage in london and belfast. but the eu's vaccine shortfall sees them force pharmaceutical firms to get permission before exporting european—madejabs. playing the professionals for billions — amateur investors continue targeting fund managers with frenzied trading in us firm gamestop. and the book business gets a boost as colleagues look in on our literature during the lockdown.